


longing in your stare

by pocketrocketrobbins



Category: Coronation Street
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 23:12:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13891149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketrocketrobbins/pseuds/pocketrocketrobbins
Summary: Rana is stunning, and Kate can't help but get caught up in her.





	longing in your stare

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys. thank you so much for all the feedback on "is it cool that you're in my head?" i've never written 2 successive fics so i guess there's a first for everything. my love for kate and rana knows no bounds
> 
> this is slightly au in that michelle and robert had an actual party for their engagement and it took place after the whole "either way me and kate are going to be together" scene (which also i'm still screaming over) 
> 
> apologies for any mistakes i've literally just banged this out i hope the flow is okay

Rana was _stunning_.

Kate had always been aware of it, purely aesthetically at first. She wasn’t blind, obviously, and she had felt the stirrings of attraction that came with seeing a beautiful woman. She’d shut them down, knowing they were pointless to even entertain, given Rana’s penchant for the opposite sex, and the small matter of the fact that she was married to her friend.

When Rana had kissed her, that strange day in October, Kate had felt the attraction resurface, as if it’d been merely bubbling under the surface, biding its time until it was right.

When she’d pass Rana in the street, in the cold November air that followed, she’d stare straight ahead, ignoring her resolutely, worried that one glance would send her careening off course and into certain doom.

It scared her, the power Rana held over her, that out of nowhere (“Well,” Rana had smirked when Kate had mentioned it to her “It wasn’t exactly out of nowhere was it?”)

Out of nowhere, Rana could disable her defences and work her way into her heart.

And Rana was aware of her power, had used it wilfully in the past, charming men to fall at her feet, smiling coyly and speaking breathily.

And Kate knew this on an intellectual level, but she could never have prepared herself for how it would feel to have it directed at her, to have Rana bite her lip and bat her eyelashes at her.

It brewed these feelings in the pit of her stomach, made her want to grab Rana and kiss her, feel her tongue between her teeth, blaze a trail of kisses down her chest and lose herself in the feeling of it.

Which wasn’t entirely appropriate for the current occasion.

It was Robert and Michelle’s engagement party, in the Bistro, and Kate sat in a booth on her own, nursing a glass of red. She was trying and failing valiantly to put those particular thoughts out of her head.

Rana wasn’t exactly making it easy, wearing that red dress she had worn the night Kate met Imogen, which ironically, was the match that lit the flame between them, so to speak.

It was as though Rana was channelling that night in full, her hair pulled into a side braid, her cleavage drawing Kate’s eyes down more often than she’d like.

She was stood at the bar, chatting to Imran and Rosie, her eyes wide as she laughed at some no doubt ludicrous tale Rosie had concocted.

Kate watched her, watched as she scratched lightly at her neck, before taking another sip of her wine.

She saw Rana’s eyes travel past Imran’s shoulder, to connect with her own. She pursed her lips, reading the desire in Kate’s eyes, and slowly grasped a tendril of the hair at her shoulder, twirling it slightly.

Kate swallowed, averting her eyes. She felt her cheeks redden, and looked down at her glass. She could feel eyes on her, and looked up to see Zeedan staring back at her from across the room. He was sat with Robert, Michelle standing nearby, engaged in conversation with her fiancé. Both were unaware that their guest was more occupied with his wife’s lover than any menial engagement woes they regaled him with.

Kate hated that term – “lover,” she felt there was something sordid about it, which, of course, the whole situation was, but it didn’t fit her relationship with Rana.

Their situation was seedy, in a sense, together in secret, Rana’s husband painfully aware of every second of it. But their relationship was borne of something purer and truer than that, and it felt wrong to attribute those terms to what she felt for Rana, and what she meant to her.

Keeping it all a secret wasn’t ideal, by any stretch of the imagination, but Kate knew it was and would be worth it, to be with Rana properly when all of this came to an end.

Zeedan looked away, bitterness overcoming his features for a split second, and Kate watched as he drained the remnants of his orange juice, and stood, breezing out the door.

Rana, still in conversation with her brother, took no notice of her husband leaving.

Kate stood as well, overwhelmed by Rana and the heat, and the shock of guilt that engulfed her suddenly. It’d been a while since she’d felt that, the guilt. She’d been so appalled by what Zeedan had forced Rana into, blackmailing her through hurt and spite, that the lingering guilt she had felt over the affair had been diminished.

But seeing how jealous Zeedan was, she remembered how she’d felt when she was in his position, destined to watch the woman she loved with someone else.

She moved away from the booth, her head bowed, eyes focused on the ground beneath her.

When she entered the bathroom, having checked each of the three small cubicles for any partygoers, she rested against the sink, and sighed. 

She jumped slightly when she looked up, the figure in the reflection of the mirror an unexpected one.

Rana closed the door softly behind her, locking it, and leaning back against it. She raised her eyebrow at Kate in the mirror, before Kate turned to face her.

“Well well well,” she drawled.

“Fancy meeting you here Ms Connor, in all the bathrooms in all the world.”

Kate smirked despite herself, rolling her eyes, as Rana approached her slowly.

“That was… bad, even for you.”

Rana smiled seductively, ignoring Kate’s comment. She pointed at Kate, tilting her head as she came closer.

“If I didn’t know any better…”

Closer and closer she came, eyes wide, biting her lip at Kate in the way that made her want to fall to her knees before her.

Kate backed away, overwhelmed by the lust in Rana’s eyes, until she felt the wall against her back.

“I’d say you were…”

Rana was in front of her, Kate could feel her breath on her face. She closed her eyes as she felt Rana caressing her cheek gently.

“Happy to see me.”

And like that, Rana consumed her, hands in her hair, on her shoulders, up and down her biceps. She kissed her hard, as if it had been all she’d thought of all night, as if she couldn’t go a second longer without her lips on Kate’s.

Kate pushed back into her, running her hands down Rana’s back, pulling her closer, groaning softly as Rana pulled away.

She trailed her lips down Kate’s neck, and Kate felt the skin there flame as Rana moved to nip behind her ear, marking her so Kate knew exactly what was on her mind.

“Rana,” she breathed softly.

Rana stayed true to the path she was forging, moving to kiss along Kate’s jawline, before grasping her thigh, and lifting Kate’s leg to wrap around her waist.

Kate moaned, softly at first, and then louder as she felt Rana’s hand reach for the zipper at her back.

“Rana,” she tried again, pulling away slightly.

Rana stopped her ministrations, and looked at Kate through hooded eyes, lust flaming in her stare.

Kate breathed deeply, closing her eyes. Willpower was something Kate usually had an abundance of, but when it came to Rana… well.

“We shouldn’t do this here.”

Rana sighed, and Kate opened her eyes to see the disappointment on her face.

“You’re right,” she said, pulling back slowly, letting Kate’s leg drop, exhaling deeply.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away. I can wait ‘til later.”

Kate raised her eyebrows in silent question, as Rana smoothed down the front of her dress. Rana looked back at her in confusion, tilting her head.

“Well, I mean I just thought… you know, what with Alya being away, and Craig staying at home tonight… that maybe I could come over later?”

Kate loves confident Rana, self-assured in how she holds herself and how others perceive her, but she can’t deny loving soft and vulnerable Rana too. It makes her melt when Rana looks at her like that, eyes wide, expression unsure and tentative, as if scared that wrong one move will send things tumbling.

Kate smiled at her, reaching out to hold her, drawing her in and resting her hand on her waist.

“Of course, you know I’d love you to.”

The tension drained from Rana, and Kate wondered how she ever coped without having Rana in her arms and in her life. Her mind drifted back to Zeedan, the pain in his eyes, and she hated how glad she is that it’s Zeedan that must deal with that and not her.

 Rana sensed the change in Kate’s demeanour.

“Babe… are you sure you’re okay? You don’t seem yourself.”

“Yeah, I’m okay, it’s just… well I was just thinking a lot about how we got here and everything and I just…”

Rana frowned, uncertainty in her eyes.

“Go on Kate, just spit it out.”

“I just, I love you so much, and I just felt a little guilty earlier.”

Rana nodded slowly, as the realisation dawned on her. 

“About Zeedan?”

“I know what it’s like to love you and not be with you, and I just- I felt bad.”

Rana smiled softly at her, and Kate is overwhelmed again by the love she feels for this woman, and just how grateful she is that she can call her hers. But the whole "lovers" thought has gotten under her skin, and she knows she needs to bring it up to Rana before she overthinks it. 

“Rana? Can I ask you a question?”

“Course, what is it?”

Kate felt uncharacteristically nervous, for no reason, she knows, because she knows that Rana loves her, has practically blown up her steady stable life just to be with her. Kate doesn't doubt how Rana feels about her, but she can't help but feel a little trepidation. 

“When you think of me, what do you call me?”

Rana furrowed her brow in confusion, before replying.

“You mean, as in like a pet name or a nickname?”

Kate blushed when Rana smirked back at her

“I mean, if this is about that time you asked me to call you Mistr-“

“No! No, that's not it, Rana oh my God,” Kate interrupted hastily, embarrassment making her bow her head.

“No I mean like, do you think of me as your… lover? Or something else? Or- I don’t know…”

Kate trailed off, wondering why she felt the need to bring this up now. She felt Rana grasp her chin, lifting her face so they were eye to eye. 

“I haven’t really thought about it if I’m honest.” Rana began, winding her arms around Kate’s neck.

“To me you’re just… Kate. But if you want me to label us…”

Kate looked away, knowing they were entering dangerous territory. Rana hadn’t yet labelled herself, and Kate wasn’t pushing her, knowing as she did how delicate a process it tended to be. She didn’t want Rana to feel any pressure, and had told her that even if she never put a name, as it were, to who or what she was, then that was perfectly fine too. It was, she had said, whatever made her most comfortable with herself, and Rana had smiled back at her, and kissed her on the cheek, and that had been the end of the discussion.

“Hey,” Rana said, and Kate returned her gaze. “What’s brought all this on?”

“I don’t want to be just your lover." Kate began, "I think our relationship is more meaningful than that.”

Kate worried that Rana would misunderstand,  or take offence, and began to explain exactly what she meant, but Rana interrupted her, quirking an eyebrow as she spoke with confidence. 

“Well if you don’t want to be my lover, what about my girlfriend?”

Kate watched as a smile spread slowly across Rana’s face, as though she'd just come to a realisation herself.

“Girlfriend. My girlfriend. Kate Connor is my girlfriend. I love my girlfrie-”

Rana’s excitement was catching, and Kate captured Rana’s lips in a kiss, cutting her off mid tirade.

When they parted, Kate pressed their foreheads together.

“That sounds perfect to me. I'd love to be your girlfriend.”

Rana laughed and ran her hands down the length of Kate’s arms, catching her hand and turning to lead her out of the bathroom.

“Come on,” she beamed.

“I want to go home with my girlfriend.”

Kate smiled back at her, wide and true, and followed her out the door.

Girlfriend was perfect, for now. One day, Kate was sure, wife would make an excellent replacement.  


End file.
